U.S. stock futures were higher on Thursday, as the Dow Jones, S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 indices rose, following Wednesday’s lower close.
U.S. Central Command, or CENTCOM, initiated airstrikes against targets in Iran on Wednesday evening following attempted Iranian attacks on U.S. personnel in the Middle East. U.S. Central Command described the action on X, stating, “The strikes are a powerful response to yesterday’s attempted Iranian attacks on U.S. forces based in the Middle East.”
Investors digested the Federal Reserve‘s decision to leave interest rates unchanged, which came alongside a rare dissent from three FOMC members who voted in favor of a rate hike as inflation persists above the Fed’s 2% target.
Meanwhile, the 10-year Treasury bond yielded 4.69%, and the two-year bond was at 4.27%. The CME Group’s FedWatch tool’s projections show markets pricing a 65.2% likelihood of the Federal Reserve hiking the current interest rates during its September meeting.
| Index | Performance (+/-) |
| Dow Jones | 0.28% |
| S&P 500 | 0.32% |
| Nasdaq 100 | 0.58% |
| Russell 2000 | 0.27% |
The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY) and Invesco QQQ Trust ETF (NASDAQ:QQQ), which track the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100, respectively, were higher in premarket on Thursday. The SPY was up 0.32% at $731.78, while the QQQ advanced by 0.52% to $665.18.
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Stocks In Focus
Meta Platforms
- Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ: META ) dropped 8.51% in premarket on Thursday after it posted mixed financial results for the second quarter. It anticipates full-year capital expenditures of $130 billion to $145 billion, versus prior guidance of $125 billion to $145 billion.
- Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings indicate that META maintains a weak price trend in the short, medium, and long terms, with a good quality score.
Microsoft
- Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT ) jumped 8.09% after reporting better-than-expected fourth-quarter financial results Wednesday after market close.
- Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings indicate that MSFT maintains a weak price trend in the short, long, and medium terms, with a moderate growth score.
Qualcomm
- Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM ) was 4.80% lower as it reported third-quarter revenue of $9.9 billion, beating a Street consensus estimate of $9.67 billion, but adjusted earnings per share were $2.21 in the quarter, missing a Street estimate of $2.23.
- Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings indicate that QCOM maintains a weak price trend in the short, medium, and long terms, with a moderate value score.
Apple
- Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL ) was down 0.60% as analysts expect it to post quarterly earnings of $1.89 per share on revenue of $108.65 billion, after the closing bell.
- Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings indicate that AAPL maintains a strong price trend in the long, short, and medium terms, with a good quality score.
Amazon.com
- Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN ) was 2.47% higher as analysts expect it to post quarterly earnings of $1.82 per share on revenue of $196.25 billion, after the closing bell.
- Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings indicate that AMZN maintains a weak price trend in the short, long, and medium terms, with a good growth score.
Cues From Last Session
Industrials, information technology, and financial stocks recorded the biggest losses on Wednesday, while energy and consumer staples bucked the overall market trend to close higher, even as most S&P 500 sectors ended lower.
| Index | Performance (+/-) | Value |
| Dow Jones | -2.19% | 51,594.14 |
| S&P 500 | -1.52% | 7,316.15 |
| Nasdaq Composite | -1.74% | 24,442.94 |
| Russell 2000 | -1.61% | 2,906.31 |
Insights From Analysts
Technology analyst Luke Lango remains firmly bullish on the stock market and the U.S. economy, arguing that current market anxieties over an “AI risk cocktail” are grossly overblown and already priced into valuations.
Addressing broader economic concerns, Lango emphasizes that elevated oil prices around $85 are “elevated but not stagflationary” and fall far short of the levels that would severely derail economic momentum.
Rather than signaling a structural breakdown, Lango sees a stark disconnect between market sentiment and economic fundamentals. He asserts that “the gap between market fear and fundamental reality is the largest it has been at any point in this AI bull market.”
Lango expects the market to recover as investor sentiment realigns with underlying growth metrics. He notes, “gaps like this have historically closed with stock prices moving toward fundamentals, not fundamentals collapsing toward stock prices.”
Confident in the durability of the broader economic expansion and technological infrastructure demand, he views the recent technical selloff as lacking long-term narrative justification and expects a “swift and significant” rally as these fundamental clearing signals take hold.
Upcoming Economic Data
Here’s what investors will be keeping an eye on this Thursday.
- Second quarter advance estimate GDP, weekly jobless claims for the week ending July 25, June’s personal income, consumer spending, headline PCE price index, and core PCE price index data will all be released by 8:30 a.m. ET.
Commodities, Crypto, And Global Equity Markets
Crude Oil WTI futures were trading higher in the early New York session by 0.33% to hover around $84.74 per barrel.
Gold Spot US Dollar rose 0.09% to hover around $4,069.93 per ounce. The U.S. Dollar Index spot was 0.06% higher at the 100.9490 level.
Meanwhile, Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) was trading 0.14% lower at $64,211.09 per coin over the last 24 hours.
Asian markets closed mixed on Thursday, as Japan’s Nikkei 225, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng, and India’s Nifty 50 indices rose, whereas South Korea’s Kospi, Australia’s ASX 200, and China’s CSI 300 indices fell. European markets were also mixed in early trade.
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